💸 Gov. Wolf appeared in Allentown one day last fall to celebrate his success in boosting early education funding. An hour later he was at a news conference 90 miles away in Steelton, touting free breakfasts for students.

Despite the distance, no speed limits were broken. Wolf winged it from the northeast to south-central Pa. aboard the taxpayer-provided plane that is at the disposal of the governor and other state officials.

Since taking office in 2015, Wolf has averaged more than one flight per week on the nine-seat, twin-turboprop King Air 350i, racking up 256 flights at a total cost of nearly $642,000.

His annual plane use is generally on par or far less than that of his predecessors, although COVID-19 reduced air travel to just five flights in 2020.

It has picked up since. Last year, he made 20 trips on the state plane and this year took 38 trips.

“You can get to a lot more places, see a lot more people, do a lot more events if you can get there faster,” Wolf said. “The plane allowed me to do that. I’m not sure how you do a cost-benefit analysis of that but I think the benefits outweigh the costs there.”

Republican lawmakers agree that in a state the size of Pennsylvania it makes sense for the chief executive working in the Capitol to have access to a plane. After all, as Sen. Dave Argall, R-Schuylkill County, put it, “it’s a long way to Erie.”

Wolf can attest to that from his days as Gov. Ed Rendell’s revenue secretary in 2007-2008 when he didn’t have access to the plane.

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2023/0...outputType=amp